Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
It means you free me and I will tear the throat out of that male that dared to speak to you in such a way.
“Let’s just focus on getting free,” I tell him, running a hand over the cage on his chest. There’s a padlock under his back, which means he’ll have to be standing up for me to get it off him. Okay, arms and legs first, and then we can take his strange, reverse-spiked vest off of him and get him free.
My gaze lands on the collar. It looks tight, the flesh around it dark and chafed. When he swallows, I watch his Adam’s apple push against it and feel a surge of frustrated anger that they’ve collared him like a dog.
I can take it off now, though. “Can you lift your head?” I ask him, getting my lockpicks out.
He does, his nostrils flaring. Your scent is awful.
I can’t help but chuckle at that. “I put on a bit extra today just in case.” My paranoia made me double up on perfumes, just because I wanted to make sure I was heavily masked. “Sorry about that.”
I will be glad when I can smell your sweetness instead of this, Zohr tells me, disgruntled. When we are free from here, never wear another scent again.
“No perfumes, ever,” I agree. I’m tired of them. My fingers move along the back of the collar. I already know which pick to use, and I’m able to slide the bit of metal into the lock and twist. With a little click, it falls away and then the collar is loose on his neck. I sigh with relief and pull it off of him, tossing it aside.
His growl of pleasure is audible.
“Now the rest,” I tell him, reaching for one wrist.
There’s a loud click somewhere in the distance, and it takes me a moment to realize what it is. A gun. “Stop right now,” a voice calls.
I freeze and look up, surprised.
Kurt steps out of the shadows, shotgun in hand. Azar’s next to him, an ominous figure in pale clothing and sunglasses. On the other side, there’s another nomad—Marty.
We’re busted.
I did not smell them, Zohr tells me, furious. Their scents were covered by your perfume.
Well, shit. I stare up at them, horrific dismay rippling through me. I don’t move. I wait to see if they’re going to shoot me now.
Azar steps to the edge of the pool. “Did you truly think I would not notice that your scent changed? Do you think me so unobservant?”
I’m silent for a long moment, and then I shrug. “Yes?”
His jaw clenches and I feel a heavy darkness in the air. Which is odd, given that nothing’s changed, but it feels different in the room.
I can feel his thoughts pressing on my own. He is trying to link to me. He wants to speak.
Don’t do it! That’s what he’s been trying to get from you! He wanted you sane enough to talk to.
Zohr’s thoughts become strained. He is pushing thoughts of you into my mind. It is difficult to tell which ones are you and which are not…
“Then don’t talk in your head,” I murmur to Zohr, my gaze on Azar. “Don’t talk to anyone until we get out of here.”
Azar pulls his glasses off and his eyes are a cold, pale gray. It’s so weird…and creepy. I don’t understand. If he’s a dragon, they normally go between two colors—gold and black. I’ve never seen his eyes be anything but icy pale gold, but now they’re this weird, in-between sort of milky gray that seems ominous and terrible all at once. The heaviness presses on my mind again, and I bite back a whimper. It feels like someone’s pushing against my skull with a brick.
“You thought to work around me? I can feel you communicating,” Azar says. “I know you are linked. I do not know how you managed it, but I suspect you will tell me.”
“You’re suspecting wrong.” My voice is strong even if I’m not feeling particularly brave at the moment.
“I have my ways,” he murmurs, and then I feel the wave of mental heaviness come over me again. I bite back a groan and look over at Kurt, but he doesn’t seem affected. Is it just me? Just because of my bond with Zohr? How were Sasha and Dakh able to withstand this?
Zohr’s low growl worries me. Is he giving in? What do I do if he does?
The heaviness continues, until it feels like the air around us is thick with it. Like I’ll choke if I breathe. I press my palms against the plaster of the pool, panting hard.
Then suddenly, it lifts.
I look up in surprise, and Azar’s eyes flick back to the pale, pale gold. His gaze rests on me. “So. You will not yield your thoughts to me?”